Sunday, November 16, 2014

Unseasonably cold temperatures across the country have triggered polar vortex memories that most of us would prefer to forget. It's an unfortunate association, but there's a sensorial antidote for the collective PTSD affecting portions of the country experiencing December weather this November; it's Christmas Fir Cabin Spray by Juniper Ridge

The product is the sixth in a series of "cabin sprays" made by Juniper Ridge and is described as "Christmas tree in a bottle". One spritz and you can say goodbye to forest-inspired scents that have been conning nostrils for decades. Christmas Fir Cabin Spray's fresh arboreal bouquet replaces memories of store bought fauxery with the soothing aroma of fir, cedar, and pine sourced from Mt. Hood. The product smells "real" because folks at Juniper Ridge go into the forest and forage for raw materials before distilling the ingredients by hand.

The scent of the forest belongs in the air which is why Christmas Fir Cabin Spray by Juniper Ridge is rife with Proustian potential. It's not a scent you have to learn; it's a scent you know in your DNA. Whether the memories are tied to gentle walks in the forest or Christmas trees lined up for sale, this olfactory creation is a righteous must-have at $30 a bottle.

Notes:
Image titled "Douglas Fir Variations" is comprised of four Creative Commons graphics. It was designed by Michelle Krell Kydd. The images are (clockwise): Douglas Fir and Hemlocks, Coast Douglas Fir Cone by David Douglas, Douglasie by Petwo, and Abies Albaby Böhringer Friedrich.
This article was serendipitously posted on the anniversary of the first volume of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (1913). A future Smell and Tell workshop that links scent, memory and literature is in the works for 2015. December's Smell and Tell is focused on Patchouli and takes place on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, from 7:00pm to 8:45pm at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. For more details click here.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

When I was a child I would accompany my father to his
leather shop on 236 West 27th Street in the garment district. The world changed
the moment you walked into the freight elevator and were greeted with the scent
of gear oil and metal. I remember the aroma of the shop which was a combination
of leather, rubber cement, tailor's chalk, spools of thread, rolls of acetate
lining, coffee, manila pattern paper, pencils, wooden cutting tables, rack and push hand carts, metal
chairs ornamented with handmade cushions, buttered rolls and bagels, and the warm
metal of zealous sewing machines stitching away.

A flock of women from the Caribbean to South America worked
there. I remember watching them change from their work clothes into street
clothes and admiring how lady-like they were. The changing room was a
flutter with slips, skirts, dresses, pantyhose and the staccato of Spanish conversation. The women were like butterflies.
When they'd leave the shop you could smell traces of soap, hand cream and eau de cologne
from Spain in the changing room. The soap was different from the one we used at home and smelled of citrus, cinnamon, and white flowers.

One of the women who worked in the shop was from Cuba and her name was Dulce. I
remember how hard she worked and how beautiful she was. The sound of machines and hands working inside Brand X Fashions never leaves my memory. The video "Soul of a Shirt" captures the spirit of what I remember even though it's modern and related to shirt production (my father made
coats, dresses, and suits in leather and suede).

The building that housed Brand X Fashions now includes the Fashion Institute of Technology. The 12-story deco sandstone building is across the street from the fragrance lab on 27th Street where I studied perfumery with
Virginia Bonofiglio of FIT. On the first day of perfumery class I met Dulce Urquiza of Givaudan. We became fast friends and no matter how much time goes by she always reminds me of the Dulce I knew in my childhood. Both are of Cuban heritage and have an interesting blend of strength and sweetness; just like a perfect café cubano...

Notes:The aroma ofSwedish Dream Sunflower Facial Soap inspired this story; it smells exactly like the soap that sat on the porcelain sink in the women's changing room at Brand X Fashions.The video that accompanies this post is curated by The Skyscraper Museum of NYC and can be found on their YouTube channel. My experience in the Garment District took place in the early 1970's. Though the video was shot from footage in the 1950's it affords an interesting historical perspective. The image of my father's business card is embellished with the wooden portion of a garment rack that was used to walk finished product to a contractor or distributor. I took a few rides in these, as a kid as did my sister. The picture of a vintage Singer® sewing machine was taken by Jorge Royan and was used with permission. It was remixed with an image my cousin took of the building where my father grew up.The building is in Brzeziny, Poland.Image of "Leather Bouquet" featuring bolts of leather skins in bright colors taken by Michelle Krell Kydd.Dulce Urquiza is Senior Creative Fragrance Development Manager at Givaudan and a chemical engineer; she puts the flower in STEM. A future story about her journey as a woman in science is planned. It is a precious story that has never been told before.

The Annette Green Fragrance Foundation Studio at The Fashion Institute of Technology is modeled on professional
facilities and is the only fragrance lab on a U.S. college campus.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Shellfish and saffron have a natural affinity for each other. For some, the experience of savoring the flavor of a delicious paella is proof enough. Still, the desire to know why and certain flavors work so well together is enough to keep a curious cook up all night, or in some cases, inspire in a 2438 page corpus on molecular gastronomy.

Dr. Roman Kaiser is a renowned flavor and fragrance chemist who has dedicated his life to analyzing scents emitted by plants in their natural setting. Respectful of plant life and the environment he is known for utilizing dirigibles to conduct fragrance studies in locations including: Lower Amazonia, Papua New Guinea, India, and rainforest biotopes.

These days Dr. Kaiser can be found with both feet on the ground. He retired from Givaudan in 2011 and lectures at European universities. He spends more time doing things that he loves including foraging, canning and cooking; something he did in his youth as he spent a good part of that time in the hills and forests of Switzerland.

It isn't difficult to imagine a curious flavor story Kaiser shares from his childhood. As a young boy he added a few petals of Rosa centifolia from his father's nursery to a batch of homemade raspberry marmalade. The result was a memorable flavor pairing that inspired his pursuit of sensory science as an adult.

Last month I shared a recipe for parsley pesto with Dr. Kaiser via email and confessed that its success was the result of two unplanned events; accidentally buying parsley for a cilantro-based sofrito recipe and deciding to build a dairy-free pesto using the parsley as a flavor base.

I discovered that lemon zest and ground sumac temper garlic and parsley's assertiveness, creating multiple flavor complements. What I knew in the creation process as "instinct" is something I can now share as experience as there are clear reasons why this flavor experiment worked.

Lemon rind is not juicy, but if you add an umami enhancer like ground sumac berry you receive an added benefit; malic acid. Malic acid gives fruit a pleasant tart quality. In adding ground sumac berries to lemon zest one returns a sensory quality to lemon that is associated with a part of fruit that isn't present in the recipe; the juice-filled pulp. The effect is, in essence, a reconstitution of lemon's juicy character without the addition of water. The water forms in the mouth from the savory umami effect.

After sharing the recipe for parsley pesto with Dr. Kaiser he responded with a flavor story of his own. The event took place while he was dining at a restaurant on the Ligurian coast with colleagues (a story he relates on page 150 of his book Meaningful Scents from Around the World). If you're a home cook with a penchant for seafood and saffron you'll appreciate what Dr. Kaiser has to say about science and the role of a cook's instinct in the kitchen:

"...I would also like to describe a culinary insight. I was always
wondering how the idea developed to add saffron to shrimps, prawns and red
mullet. During a project at the Ligurian coast we once had lunch in a very
simple but culinary-wise, wonderful restaurant where we could even see how the
dishes were prepared. We had red mullet (rouget, Mullus barbatus) very delicately
enhanced in its flavor with saffron, and I suddenly understood why they did
this.

The fresh red mullet itself already has a very faint saffron smell due to
minute amounts of safranal and related compounds formed by degradation of carotenoids which gives the typical color to this and some other
marine species, including shrimps. In fact, this faint saffron note is also
perceivable in fresh shrimps and prawns, in which I have been able to demonstrate
the presence of safranal by headspace trapping.

Another fascinating example illustrating of how people are
often able to do the right thing intuitively, in this case to support a very
faintly present, but desirable olfactory note with a suitable spice.

Dr. Kaiser's capacity for discovery defines him as a person and a scientist. These qualities make it a pleasure and privilege to know him. When I returned to read the passage about saffron and shellfish in his book, I found a note from Kate Greene, Vice President of Marketing at Givaudan. The note, written on July 1, 2008, was situated on page 152; one page ahead of the one Dr. Kaiser cited in his email to me. I must have used the note as a bookmark when I was writing about geosmin, a molecule that smells of freshly turned earth. Kate's note read, "On behalf of Roman, please enjoy his amazing book- it has given all of us much inspiration."

Meaningful Scents from Around the World has the approachable tone of an observational diary with a provocative scholarly flavor. It continues to attract readers because the human element in Dr. Kaiser's work, which is as much about curiosity as it is about science, is timeless. September 16th marks the eighth year since the book was published. Meaningful Scents from Around the World continues to inspire me. I have a feeling it always will...

Notes:
Details regarding Dr. Roman Kaiser's childhood discovery of rose-raspberry flavor pairing can be found in an interview conducted by Dyptique.

Dr. Roman Kaiser pioneered an aroma capturing technique in the 70's referred to as "headspace" trapping. This technique allows scent samples to be collected in the field without harming the plant.

Image of a dirigible from a ScentTrek® in Madagascar's Masaola Peninsula via Givaudan.

Image of a pint of red raspberries by Dan Klimke via Creative Commons.

A big thanks to my husband, A.J. Kydd, who encouraged me to invent something new when I bought the wrong herb at the grocery store. It's nice to be reminded that mistakes and inconveniences are often opportunities in disguise.

Monday, July 7, 2014

A perfume is known by its name, smell, shape and sometimes, its color. These attributes influence expectations in a perfume encounter. The unstoppered bottle is an invitation, a provocation, a dare, the gaze of a beautiful stranger that playfully intimates, "Would you like to get to know me?" Saying "yes" to the unstoppered bottle reveals an interconnected web of memories that belong to everyone and no one, intimate remembrances that reside in a compartment of the collective unconscious particular to smell. Scent can trill resonance, discord or a sense of the uncharted and does so against the backdrop of personal identity; it achieves this more affectively than any other sense.Many hands are joined in the effort of making a perfume, but the terroir of human creativity is generally overlooked. This aspect rarely plays in the foreground because the eye's capacity for "knowing" is limited to what can be seen and we live in an occularcentric culture. The unstoppered bottle releases the invisible which begs the question; what if it were possible to connect with the memories of those involved in the production of a perfume?

Would the memories belong to the flower pickers whose fingers are capable of reading the coolness of dawn in the slip of a petal? Fingers that know the perfect tension in the snap of a bud plucked from its stem at exactly the right moment? Maybe the memories belong to the distillers who gather the flower pickers' handiwork and are incidentally perfumed by the essences they labor to extract. Perhaps the memories in the unstoppered bottle belong to a less agrarian figure, a technician whose hands rest in the pockets of his lab coat after he's carefully weighed and measured the ingredients for a new perfume. He stands at the lab bench reviewing a formula written by la maître perfumeurwho is in the habit of composing immediately after she dreams. The technician knows the rich persimmon ink that never bleeds through the pages of the mauveine notebook to which she commits her formulas. The flourish of her cursive inspires contemplation and the sense that one is viewing an autobiographical dossier.It is the memories of la maître perfumeur that infuse the formula most. Using aroma she regularly transforms the linear notion of time by fashioning a galaxy orbited by timelessness. This is most evident in her classic compositions, many of which shook off their dust decades after they were launched and were not touched by poor reformulation when their bouquets were reborn. Each of la maître perfumeur's fragrances is marked by a floral signature free of the pantomimes of nature one finds in modern perfumes that are designed to appeal to the many under the guise of the impeccable taste of the few. To smell them is to know hermost intimate memories without the benefit of words. It is in this intuitive milieu that timelessness abides and it's as real to the technician as the logic of precision that guides his hands as he works.La maître perfumeur has her peccadillos, one of which is that she is occasionally discomforted by the use of mechanical automation that has become de rigueur at fragrance houses. When she looks at the glass-enclosed lab that contains the compounding robot la maître perfumeur utters a soft curse under her breath. The curse reaches the technician's ears as he adds the final drops of jasmine absolute to a formula that won't need modification. He considers the word merde, which means "shit" in French, but it only fertilizes his efforts at the lab bench as he is working with an indolic jasmine.

Memory has yet to leave the flower picker, the lab technician, the distiller and the perfumer, but the day will arrive when time dissolves a few of their remembrances. Some will be spared significant loss of identity while others will have their essence extracted like a fine perfume absolute. The onset of memory's departure is unsettling and yet a shadow of its sunset is key to transforming the unstoppered bottle into a memory maker. One must be open to the "new" while forgetting preconceptions forecast by the experienced, the indifferent and the jaded. Detaching from likes, dislikes and odious comparisons paves the path of personal truth and it is to this experience that every unstoppered bottle is dedicated.So the next time you encounter the unstoppered bottle, consider whether you will be the same person you were before you opened it, or if you will become a truer rendition of yourself in the hands of collective memory. Notes:The first graphic that accompanies this post is a composite of two works from Wellcome Images: The first is of an illustration of a white magnolia blossom (Magnolia altifima) and its seed pod which was photographed by Mark Catesby. The second is an image of a model eye made by W. and S. Jones in London (1840-1900). The editor made additional embellishments.The second graphic is an illustration fro m Hieronymus Burnschwig's Liber de arte Distillandi de Compositis(Strassburg, 1512). It depicts distillation.Other images created by Michelle Krell Kydd. La maître perfumeur means "master perfumer".

Saturday, March 1, 2014

A person’s first taste of bergamot is typically experienced in a sip of Earl Grey tea. A refreshing and distinctive perfume greets the nose as steam rises from the cup. The tantalizing fruity floral aroma has the same affect on the senses as the invisible aromatic trail left behind by a beautiful perfume; it inspires the desire to encounter the source and merge with it. One sip and the scent is transformed into flavor on the taste buds as bergamot balances the astringent tannins in the tea leaves. Black tea and bergamot is a perfect flavor pairing, one that is easily understood by anyone who finds comfort in a warm drink.

Another flavor pairing that produces an equally sensual effect is that of bergamot and chocolate. Like its lemon, lime and orange cousins, bergamot marries well with chocolate and provides a complementary citrus contrast against chocolate's deep dark earthiness. Like all good flavor pairings, when bergamot is combined with chocolate none of the unique characteristics of the individual ingredients are lost. The edge between their differences blurs in harmonious transformation.

Bergamot has floral and citrus notes, both of which can be found in single origin chocolate. Spicy, nutty, winey and caramel-like aspects can make these delicate notes of bergamot harder to detect, but they are there. The contrasting notes have common ground in a specific medium. The trick is to find the space where they meet and consciously refrain from being distracted by the ambiguous fringes. This is difficult for many as ambiguity is irksome because it defies black and white distinctions. When it comes to ambiguity in flavors, notions of certainty disparate and give way to shades of gray that disrupt the senses. It is in this locus that new flavors are born.

Flavor pairing is an art and a science. Home cooks regularly build on flavor pairings that are particular to their culture (tomato and basil, garlic and ginger,
shallots and tarragon, etcetera). Though it is true that one can taste harmony in an ordinary dish without
donning a lab coat, innovative flavor pairings are evolving as a result of
collaborations between chefs (artists) and flavorists (scientists).

Flavor pairing research has yielded an interesting
though hotly contested result; when aromatic properties of ingredients are
compared and analyzed for common molecules, chefs and flavorists are able to
build bridges that result in flavor pairings between ingredients that appear to have nothing in common. "Whilst this [flavor pairing] is still just a theory it is a great tool for creativity," says Heston Blumenthal, chef at The Fat Duck.

You don't have to be a professional chef to use food grade essential oils. With products like Aftelier's Chef's Essences home cooks can add unique flavor facets to their culinary creations.Glass Petal Smoke’s Bergamot
Brownies utilize a bergamot and chocolate flavor pairing in a flourless pastry base that is gluten-free. The recipe is the result of a complete reworking of the Gluten-Free Goddess’ “Dark Chocolate Brownies”.*

Bergamot BrowniesRecipe by Michelle Krell KyddServes 9-12

Ingredients:·5 ounces 72% dark chocolate (chips or broken up
bar)·½ cup unsalted
Land O'Lakes® Unsalted Butter·2 large organic eggs· 1 cup India Tree® Dark Muscovado Sugar·½ cup almond
meal ·¼ cup Arrowhead® Mills Brown Rice Flour·¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill® Flaxseed Meal·½ teaspoon non-iodized sea salt·¼ teaspoon baking soda·4 teaspoons Mexican Vanilla Extract·8-10 drops Aftelier's Bergamot Chef's EssenceInstructions:· Position rack in the center of the oven and
preheat to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch square baking pan with cooking oil
spray and set aside.·Microwave butter in a glass bowl. Start with 20
seconds, adding 15 second increments until the butter is melted. The butter
should be melted, not hot. Set aside.·Microwave chopped chocolate in a glass bowl. Start
with 30 seconds, adding 10 second increments, stirring every time you add more
time to the melting process. (Do not over melt as chocolate will crystallize
and won’t be good for baking.) Using a dropper add essential oil of Bergamot to
the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Set aside.·In another bowl, beat eggs by hand until combined.
Add sugar and vanilla, making sure to smooth out any lumps. Fold the egg and
sugar mixture into the chocolate and butter mixture. Blend until smooth and
glossy.·In a separate bowl combine almond meal, rice
flour, sea salt and baking soda. Mix together with a silicone spatula until
well incorporated. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the
chocolate mixture. Combine thoroughly.·Fill baking pan with brownie mixture, using a spatula
to even out the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a
toothpick in the center of the pan; there should be no crumbs sticking to the
toothpick. The brownies will be slightly moist. Do not overbake.·Allow pan to cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate the
brownies until ready to serve. If you don’t plan on serving all of the brownies
at once you can wrap individual pieces in foil and store them in an airtight
bag in the freezer. Thaw or microwave to soften when the craving for a brownie
strikes.

*Flavor modifications include: use of chocolate at percentages higher
than 70%, substitution of dark muscovado sugar in place of light brown
sugar, use of butter in place of coconut oil (very important if you
don't want coconut to be part of the flavor profile), substitution of
brown rice flour in place of sorghum flour, the addition of flaxseed
meal to improve texture, and use of Mexican vanilla in place of
Madagascar vanilla for a creamy woody caramelized tone. Food grade
essential oil of bergamot is utilized to complete flavor pairing
synergies.

Notes:

Food grade essential oils are highly concentrated and should
be dosed with a very light hand. A primer on baking with food grade essential oils can be found here.

Bakto Flavors manufactures a bergamot extract that is
excellent and easy to use (the essential oil is diluted in soybean oil). Add to 2-3 teaspoons of the bergamot extract per
batch of brownies.

Bergamot is a top note in perfumery which means it evaporates more
quickly than middle and base notes. If a middle or base note was used in this recipe the amount of essential oil would be cut by at least 50% as middle and base notes evaporate more slowly and evoke stronger flavor effects.

Blood orange, Ginger, Jasmine, Neroli, Rose, and Ylang Ylangwould work nicely in the brownie recipe should you choose to experiment in a chocolate flavor pairing using food grade essential oils.

Glass Petal Smoke predicts that national brands like McCormick will produce gourmet flavor extracts
inspired by materials used in fine fragrance. The materials will have
acceptance in existing cultures and expose consumers to new flavor
combinations that will balance the exotic and the familiar. Growth in local food movements across the U.S. will increase the chances of palatable flavor pairings rooted in authentic foodways (e.g. Midwest).

Images by Michelle Krell Kydd are marked as such (all rights reserved).

Image of flourless chocolate pastry is taken by Karen Neoh (some rights reserved).

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The sway of flapper fringe that defined a generation of liberated women in the 1920's inspired the creation of Chanel No. 5. Nine decades later the world's best selling perfume now defines the smell of baby products. The Perfume Heretic, who is not a fan of Chanel No. 5 says, "A cheap knockoff of Chanel No. 5 is now the default scent of almost all baby shampoo."

The Perfume Heretic is not alone in her opinion. A page on Facebook is dedicated to the fact that Chanel No. 5 Smells like baby wipes. Conversations on fragrance boards across the web reflect similar observations with regard to baby products that smell like Chanel No. 5. Most opinions are fixed on the powdery notes in the perfume. Is this an example of the trickle down effect (when an expensive luxury product influences the introduction of cheaper versions to the market) or is there something happening on a cultural level that influences what appears to be an unlikely parallel? The answer is yes—to both.

Aromatic ingredients provide a tangible
foundation for understanding scent's ability to shape
memory, especially when raw materials are identified alongside olfactory descriptors. The universal "manufactured smell of babies" is built on the aroma of perfumed talcum powder, which is applied to skin to absorb wetness and to deodorize. By itself, talcum powder smells neutral and somewhat clay-like. When consumers refer to the smell of powder they are usually referencing ionone molecules found in the root of the Florentine Iris (also known as orris root). Ionones possess a quality of tenacity that resembles the experience one has in the presence dusting powder after it's been applied (when you can see the powder in the air). Ionones derived from orris root smell cool, steely and violet-like.

Historically speaking, perfumes added to talcum powder vary based on function. Rose is commonly added to face powder and luxury dusting powders, adding an element of boudoir to associations with powder. Orange flower, lavender and orris root are ingredients associated with wig powder which was popular with men in the 18th century. When it comes to understanding the relationship humans have with "powder", in all its scented forms, one must examine powder's functional purpose and associated aesthetics. Perfumes added to baby products add a refreshing quality to the
experience of diaper changing and bathing, something that makes the unpleasant smells encountered during these rituals tolerable. The smell
of baby products are associated with cleanliness, innocence and new life, qualities which
are reinforced each time pampering products are applied.

The aromatic palette of "baby powder smell" varies based
on culture, climate and rituals associated with new life. For
instance, the smell of rose and vanilla are favored in baby products sold in the
United States, (rose being a Victorian influence that cast its spell in the New World). Babies in France and Spain are perfumed with products that include the scent of orange
blossom, a flower that is common to both countries and part of each country's flavor and fragrance culture. Floralcy aside, powder notes in most baby product formulas are derived from ionones. In this respect the smell of powder is a bridge to "baby smell" cultures.

In an article titled "Ah, There's Nothing Like New Baby Smell"New York Times science reporter Douglas Quenqua asked me to describe the smell of baby products. I offered the following olfactory descriptors; powdery (dry, chalk-like, violet), aldehydic
(soapy, fresh, citrus), lactonic (milk-like, creamy), fruity (apple), floral (rose, violet, orange blossom), vanillic (woody, balsamic, sweet), and
musky (clean, fresh and sweet). Two types of musk commonly used in baby
products are galaxolide and ethylene brassylate.
Both musks, with their superhero-like names, support the structure of a
fragrance formula and are the last notes to evaporate on skin. They are also featured in most luxury perfume formulas which make them familiar strangers when they migrate from fine fragrance to functional fragrance.

The skin of a baby that has been dusted with powder and massaged with
lotion possesses its own scent, which is veiled by the cultural
interpretation of "baby smell" in pampering rituals. Delicate bottoms are powdered for
comfort. Protective unguents are used to keep baby's skin free from
irritation, most notably barrier creams which have the tenacity of Vernix caseosa, the wax-like, milky "human cold cream" which protects the fetus in utero and has a fatted lactonic aroma. New life has an inherent quality of freshness
which is why some baby care products have a crisp apple note in the fragrance formula, (double
symbolism here as a baby is the fruit of the womb and the apple is the
fruit of temptation which led to the existence of the baby in the first
place).

If aromatic plants smell extraordinary at first bloom why should human
children be any different?
Humans and plants are part of the same ecosystem. Can you imagine a
baby born without a natural aroma? Author Patrick Süskind did when he created Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the protagonist in "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. As a foundling, this bastard child of an infanticidal mother possessed a peculiar characteristic that unhinged his caretakers; he lacked a natural aroma. As an adult, Grenouille combined his hyperosmic sense of smell and skill as a perfumer with an inherited proclivity towards murder. He procured the essence of virgins via enfleurage to forge his own identity via perfume. Grenouille was the ultimate narcissist, extracting
the essence of others to obtain power and a sense of self. The charade proved destructive.

There is a parallel between the innocence with which one comes into the world and the innocence lost to the pleasure and power of sex. Both mark the start of a new beginning. Nothing traverses these two seemingly contradictory worlds better than perfume. A perfect example is the similarity between Chanel No. 5 and the scent of Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo (original formula). Perfumer Yann Vasnier of Givaudan confirms the similarity: "Baby products have used popular
fragrances as inspiration and Chanel No. 5 is probably the clearest example. The parts used in Chanel No. 5 that have influenced baby products are: the aldehyde accord, rosy notes, jasmine
notes, ionones and methyl ionones (from orris root), balsams, coumarin, vanilla and
musks (especially nitro musks* which are commonly used in baby products). The addition of orange flower and salicylates are also used as these shape a softer and cleaner rendition in a baby product formula." *Nitro musks are no longer used in fine fragrance in Europe and have been replaced by polycyclic musks. They are also less commonly used in the United States.

The formula for Chanel No. 5, created by perfumer Ernest Beaux, steered clear of floral bouquets and worshipful soliflorecompositions (perfumes inspired by single floral essences) that were typical of perfumery in the first half of the 20th century. This was achieved by several natural and synthetic ingredients in Chanel No. 5's formula, the most well known being an aldehyde accord that included 12-carbon aldehyde 2-methylundecanal (a molecule which appears in the skin of kumquats). Other raw materials in the formula worked in combination to gently sublimate the immediate floralcy of rose and jasmine, including ylang-ylang, a tropical smelling flower that is at once woody, balsamic and creamy. Aldehydes produced the effect that answered Coco Chanel's desire for a fragrance that smelled like freshly scrubbed skin. The feeling of "powder" in this fragrance comes from a touch of ionones. Knowing the olfactory qualities of the aroma chemistry in Chanel No. 5 makes it easy to understand why aspects of the perfume would be co-opted in baby products; baby products are about cleanliness and freshness.

Dressing the skin in a perfume that is reminiscent of the smell of babies
allows the wearer to indulge in the ultimate of beginnings; that of new
life. When looked at through an archetypal lens what appears to be fetishist on the surface is transformed into something that
makes perfect sense. An infant is innocent, fresh and filled with potential.
These qualities can be resurrected throughout the life cycle as there are degrees of innocence in life that have nothing to do with sex, (something the fragrance industry should take advantage of).

Newness offers opportunities of discovery that lead to transformation. When desire is
stripped from these encounters authenticity is magnified and one arrives at pure human essence, (something Süskind's Grenouille attempted to replicate using all the wrong tools and intentions). Exponential newness is the ultimate aphrodisiac. In this respect the fact that Chanel No. 5 smells like babies makes perfect sense; it's a tangible example of purposeful ambiguity in an abstract bouquet that remains timeless. Perhaps it's why Chanel No. 5 remains the best selling woman's perfume in the world.

The Eau de Parfum version of Chanel No. 5 is a knockout. The base,
middle and dry down phases are distinct, and the shift from clean to
complex is downright sexy (it takes 8 hours for the full effect at the
EDP concentration so the aromatic shifts are like little presents that
unwrap themselves on your skin). Ernest Beaux's memories of icy Russian winters are
transformed to a tropical paradise in the drydown which smolders of tonka bean, jasmine and ylang ylang. Wear Chanel No. 5 EDP when it's snowing and start your day in the story of the scent. Let serendipity determine where it takes you. You might experience what Liesl Loves Pretty Things did; an olfactory revelation that transcends associations with baby powder.

Powder notes aren't the only aromas that ring the "baby smell" bell in
the olfactory minds of perfumistas and consumers; polycyclic musk notes
that have replaced nitromusks are ubiquitous. Take a trip to Whole Foods
and smell Oriental Musk by Kuumba Made and you'll find it hard not to nose trip on baby memories.

Glass Petal Smoke recommends reading "From Rallet No. 1 to Chanel No. 5". The article appeared in the October 2007 edition of Perfumer and Flavorist and offers interesting insights with regard to the use of aldehydes in perfumery and the work of perfumer Ernest Beau.

Jean-Louis Froment curated "No. 5 Culture Chanel" at Palais de Tokyo in 2013. The exhibition is now online and a "must see" for fans of Chanel No. 5.

Perfumers Françoise Caron and Pierre Bourdon used functional product association to advantage when they re-purposed an aroma used to scent vintage face powder in the formulation of Jean Charles Brosseau's Ombre Rose (L'Original). Consumers instantly recognized something familiar and nostalgic in the powder notes and continue to be drawn to its powdery feminine bouquet. The fragrance, which is quite beautiful, can be found in drugstores and online.

Images:
The layered graphic at the start of this post is built around a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle. It has a hidden image; my goddaughter Francesca. Her head is in the blue portion by the bottle and you can see her eye to the left of the cap, her body is behind the bottle. This is a purposeful design as the "smell of babies" doesn't dominate Chanel No. 5; it's one of countless olfactory aspects.

Graphic of Grenouille from Perfume: The Story of a Murderer illustrated by dodochiyu. Rights revert back to the artist.

"L'Oiseau volage" by artist Georges Barbier is from the book The Romance of Perfume by Richard La Gallienne.

Photograph of Chanel: Livre d'Artistes, a by Irma Boom, from the No. 5 Culture Chanel exhibit. The book utilizes embossing instead of ink and is available for purchase online. It is a limited edition.

The layered graphic at the end of this post is built around a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle and a beautiful image of Gabrielle Chanel from the No. 5 Culture Chanel exhibit. What you don't see is who she's looking at; Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch. It's in the "A Love Story" section of the site. The photographer is anonymous. The picture was taken in 1921.

Smell & Tell Event Schedule

Planning for Fall 2017 Smell & Tell programming is in the works. Enjoy the summer and Stay tuned!

Radio Interviews

WQKL-FM 107.1 radio host Martin Bandykeinterviews Michelle Krell Kydd about the sense of smell on the fifth anniversary of the Smell and Tell series at the Ann Arbor District Library. You can listen to it here. (January 25, 2017)

Three interviews in 30 days with Michelle Krell Kydd on NPR affiliate stations; because the sense of smell matters.

The Evangelist of Aroma

TEDx Talk by Michelle Krell Kydd

"Secrets from a Trained Nose," is a TEDx UofM talk given by Michelle Krell Kydd on March 20, 2015 at The Power Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Click on the image above to view the video which is featured on YouTube.

COMMUNICATOR EXPLORES SENSE OF SMELL, PROMOTES INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Lights, Camera, Action

This video is an outtake from an event at The University of Michigan. It was shot during last year's Polar Vortex. If you ever wondered about how all things "Glass Petal Smoke" got started, you'll find out here.

The Author and The Site

Glass Petal Smoke was created out of a personal passion for things olfactive and gustatory. The back story regarding a raw material or finished product is often rich with history, myth and folklore. When all of these aspects are brought together, they tell a story of our common humanity, as expressed through the senses.
Because Glass Petal Smoke is a blog, an element of cyber anthropology infuses the space in which it exists. Culture is about human nature and people who love food and fragrance are acutely aware of the connection between the senses and memory. Glass Petal Smoke appeals to readers who possess such awareness and those who aspire to it.
I hope you find inspiration, joy and wonder in the pages of Glass Petal Smoke and share whatever happiness it brings you with others.
Editorial queries may be sent to the editor at glasspetalsmoke [at] gmail dot com.

Dedication * Copyright

In memory of Chris Whitley, Karin Berg, Pablo Neruda and all who traverse the earth in their absence, souls who know that the space between the seen and the unseen is the most interesting place to be...